Fillers from Thai Groupon site leaves woman devastated when her lips turn BLUE and lumpy

Publication: Daily Mail | 07/01/2016

EXCLUSIVE: Teacher, 24, who had £50 fillers from Thai Groupon site to look like Kylie Jenner is devastated when her lips turn BLUE and lumpy

Amelia Greville was horrified when lips became 'mangled' shortly after jabs

Says botched fillers left her feeling morified, ugly and grotesque

Claims the Thai clinic injected her with illegal silicone instead of the well-respected Juvéderm brand she believed she had purchased in the deal

Raised £1,500 in one day for corrective surgery after sharing her story

PUBLISHED: 07:20, 7 January 2016 | UPDATED: 15:00, 8 January 2016

A young woman who had £50 fillers injected at a Thai clinic after finding a cheap deal on Groupon was horrified when her lips turned blue and lumpy.

Amelia Greville, 24, who lives in Bangkok and works as a teacher, saw a deal for Juvéderm lip fillers online and purchased it, delighted as this is the brand Kylie Jenner uses.

The 24-year-old, who is originally from Redditch, Worcestershire, was not concerned about the cheap price - in the UK Juvéderm fillers normally cost up to £400 - as she believed Groupon was a 'trusted site'.

She had researched the brand, and having discovered the fillers are non-permanent, says she considered a cosmetic procedure such as this similar to 'getting your hair dyed'.

After having the injections in April last year she was initially happy with her new look, as her lips were much plumper.

But within months she was devastated when hard, wart-like lumps formed on her mouth.

Amelia Greville, 24, found a Groupon deal and had £50 lip fillers injected at a clinic in Bangkok

A month after having the fillers, Miss Greville's lips swelled up and hard lumps formed on them. They later turned blue

Miss Greville, pictured displaying the lumps that formed in her lips, said she shyed away from kissing her boyfriend, and, now she is single, would be 'mortified' at the idea of going on a date with her mouth in this state

This week, Miss Grenville went public with her story, trying to raise £1,500 needed for surgery to correct her swollen lips.

But after sharing her story with MailOnline, the original clinic contacted her and donated most of the money towards the treatment, which she will have as soon as possible at a specialist hospital.

Recalling the moment she first noticed lumps forming in her links, she told MailOnline: 'I looked in the mirror and looked horrific. I cried to my boyfriend at the time, but I didn't tell anyone back home.

'Your lips are right there on your face, the first thing that people look at.

'Now I try to never smile with my mouth open because I’ve got these massive three lumps.

'Whenever I meet someone new I’m self-conscious, I think they must be looking at my lips.

Miss Greville added she felt so unconfident that her unsightly lips put a strain on her relationship, eventually contributing to the couple breaking up.

She continued: 'I really didn't want to be kissed, and I still shy away from it.’

Worse, she says she can't stop herself from licking and biting the lumps.

'I’m compelled to do it. It's like my body is saying There's something foreign in your lip. If I touch them they're so sore,' she said.

To this day, she has no idea whether the clinic she went to was reputable or not.

She admitted: ‘I couldn't read the comments on the clinic's Facebook page because they were in Thai, but they had good reviews looking at the stars.

'I thought it wasn't too expensive - around £50 - although I now that's way less than you should pay. It's definitely been a learning curve.'

She complained to the clinic, who injected her with more fluid they claimed would correct the problem. However, it only made her lips worse. She is pictured before having the fillers

Miss Greville had bought the fillers believing they were Juvéderm, the brand Kylie Jenner is known to use. Eventually, hard yellow lumps formed on her already-lumpy lips and - with her confidence in tatters - she contacted another doctor

Miss Greville told MailOnline: 'I'm not the type that would have cosmetic surgery done. I'm not unhappy with my lips. But my friends had lip fillers and they looked good.

Juvéderm lip fillers are made from hyaluronic acid, a substance found naturally within the skin which increases its volume, giving the mouth a plumper look.

The fillers last for between six months and a year, and then dissolve naturally within the body.

I couldn't read the comments on the clinic's Facebook page because they were in Thai, but they had good reviews looking at the stars

Amelia Greville, 24

If a person is unhappy with their fillers, injections of an enzyme hyaluronidase should dissolve the hyaluronic acid within 24 hours.

Miss Greville says her lips initially looked 'nice' - but within two months a lump formed on her top lip and another on her bottom lip.

When Miss Grenville returned to the clinic two months later, staff injected her with another fluid they claimed would rectify the problem.

Instead, to her horror, her lips started to swell and turn blue. Later, more yellow, painful lumps formed on top of the initial lumps that already protruded from her mouth.

She claims the doctor also asked if she had been massaging her mouth every day, an instruction she maintains she had not been given when the fillers done.

She said: 'I wasn't told this. The doctor said Put a hot compress on your lips and the lumps will massage out. But I knew they wouldn't.

'I did that every day. It did nothing, just aggravated them. The more I touched them the more inflamed and uncomfortable they became.'

With her confidence ruined and her schoolchildren making fun of her, Miss Greville became concerned she had never been injected with Juvéderm in the first place.

And she claims staff at the clinic became 'frosty' and refused to help her unless she paid for more injections.

Miss Greville said: 'Now I try to never smile with my mouth open because I’ve got these massive three groups. Whenever I meet someone new I’m self-conscious, I think they must be looking at my lips

Miss Greville moved to Thailand after graduating from university, and works as a teacher in a primary school

After researching online, she discovered she may have granulomas, small areas of inflamed tissue, which are a known complication of silicone lip fillers.

She complained to Groupon, she was given a refund for her original voucher and the advert was taken off the site.

But by this point, her swollen lips meant Miss Grenville felt ugly and affected her professionally.

In constant pain - and with her confidence in tatters - she contacted another clinic.

There, a doctor inspected her lips and, alarmingly, declared he believed the clinic had used silicone - a much cheaper substance which is illegal in Thailand.

Miss Grenville said: 'The doctor I spoke to contacted the Juvéderm supplier in Thailand to check whether they have ever had an order from this clinic; they confirmed, they have not.'

My lips looked grotesque. The word I always use is mangled

Amelia Greville, 24

And attracted by the cheap prices for procedures, Miss Grenville is far from the first person to fall victim to cosmetic surgery going dangerously wrong in the country.

Bangkok has become a haven for illegal clinics with so-called ‘bag doctors’ operating using counterfeit Botox, cheap facial fillers an assortment of banned products known to have dangerous side effects.

'It's so humiliating. It has ruined my confidence. The idea of going on a date mortifies me, there's no way I'm doing it until my lips get fixed. I'm so embarrassed.

'I try to cover it up with make up. I've cried about it so many times.'

She says she trusted Groupon as a website, and believed she would be safe from harm as she thought the site vetted clinics.

The ordeal has affected her professionally, as children at her school as 'Teacher, what's wrong with your lips?'

After an injection known to dissolve Juvéderm lip fillers didn't work to correct the lumps, Miss Greville became suspicious the Thai clinic had injected her with another filler. The lumps are pictured soon after forming

Miss Greville said: 'I can't stop myself from licking and biting them. I’m compelled to do it. It's like my body is saying There's something foreign in your lip. If I touch them they're so sore.'

She told MailOnline: 'It didn't occur to me they wouldn't background check. In the UK, they are a trusted website.

'I couldn't read the comments on the clinic's Facebook page because they were in Thai, but they had good reviews looking at the stars.

Miss Greville was referred to an eminent surgeon at the Samitijev hospital in Bangkok, who said he could fix her lips with surgery and a fat graft, but the cost will be around 75,000 Thai Baht (roughly £1,500).

She began fundraising for the money, but after sharing her story with MailOnline, the clinic contacted her and donated most of the cash for the procedure.

Writing on her GOFundMe page, she said today: 'The clinic has given me a pretty big chunk of the money I need after I went public with the story.

'That, plus some fees from the press, is enough to cover the surgery. You're all amazing.'

A doctor at another clinic said he suspected the clinic where Miss Greville received her fillers had injected her with a cheaper product like silicone, which is illegal in Thailand, instead of Juvéderm

She was referred to a prominent surgeon at the Samitijev hospital in Bangkok, who said he could fix her lips with with surgery and a fat graft, but the cost will be around 75,000 Thai Baht (roughly £1,500)

Kylie's pout has inspired many lip plumpers

Miss Greville, pictured on holiday in Bali, claims surgery will not only boost her confidence, but will allow her to prove the clinic illegally injected her with silicone

She believes the surgery will allow her to prove that the clinic used silicone rather than Juvéderm.

She said: 'Not only do I need the surgery to deal with the lack of confidence this ordeal has given me, but also so that I can prove to the Thai authories and the Thai FDA that this clinic is injecting people illegally, and have them prosecuted and shut down permanently.'

Until then, she is concerned that other women could be similarly affected.

She said: 'It's a massive worry that other women could be going to that clinic. I saw one woman having filler in her cheeks and lips.

'I feel lucky it only happened in my lips - not that I would get it anywhere else because I don't need it.

'In your lips they can do repair surgery from the inside, so there are no scars. Anyone having filler under their eyes, or on their face, they will have scars forever.'

MailOnline has contacted Groupon's UK press office for a response.

Groupon Thailand shut down in September 2015, after shutting operations in Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, and Uruguay after exiting Greece and Turkey.

In a blog post on the company's website, the company's Chief Operating Officer, Rich Williams said this was because 'the investment required to bring our technology, tools and marketplace to every one of our 40+ countries isn’t commensurate with the return at this point.'

HOW TO CHOOSE A PRACTITIONER FOR LIP FILLERS SAFELY

Speaking on behalf of Juvéderm, practitioner Dr David Eccleston, clinical director of MediZen, said in a statement: 'I have been injecting the brand fillers since the product was launched.

'Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous so-called practitioners who cut costs by using counterfeit or alternative products to maximise their profit margin and offer treatment at ridiculously low prices, which tempt the unwary.

'This story is unfortunately not a surprise - I have heard many similar ones.'

'Always insist on seeing the product packaging and the that the brand advertised is the one you are receiving,' says Juvéderm practitioner Dr David Eccleston, clinical director of MediZen clinic

'If you plan to undergo treatment, ensure you see a doctor or nurse prescriber for a proper consultation, and insist on seeing the product packaging and the that the brand advertised is the one you are receiving.

'Ask as many questions as you need to feel comfortable that the product is right for you.

'Do not fall for special offers or pressure to undergo treatment. Ensure the clinic you are attending is CQC registered, and check the qualifications of the practitioner beforehand.

'Check out Treatments you can Trust website to find a reputable practitioner.

'In the right hands, the effects will be natural, soft and subtle, and improve self-confidence. In the wrong hands, as this case shows, the effects can also be life-changing, but for the worse.'

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